When all was said and done, I had torn out three inches of ad pages -- almost two entire custom-bound hardcovers worth of pages!

This was a larger order so it took them longer to process, but I was thrilled to receive the finished products earlier this week. Of course, everything looked beautiful and came out great.

I collected James Robinson's Starman, my all-time favorite series, into four volumes with all possible tie-ins placed chronologically in terms of the story. In addition to Starman #0, 1-80, and 1,000,000, I found places for the two Annuals, the 80-Page Giant, the Secret Files and Origins issue, the Shade miniseries, the Batman/Hellboy/Starman miniseries, the Mist one-shot, the Power of Shazam! crossovers, Stars and STRIPE #0 (as important to the Starman mythos as it was to the new Star-Spangled Kid/Stargirl character), a short story by Robinson about Jack Knight (Starman) taking a boxing lesson from Wildcat (from the All-Star Comics 80-Page Giant), and even a JSA All-Stars issue that came out after Starman ended, reteaming Robinson and artist Tony Harris on a Golden Age Starman story. (I placed that one at the end of the final volume since it came out most recently, despite being a flashback.)

My custom Tables of Contents:

Sandman Mystery Theatre came next, a Vertigo series focusing on the late '30s and early '40s adventures of Wesley Dodds, the Golden Age Sandman. This mystery man had a real sense of style, dressing in a suit, trench coat, fedora, and gas mask, and carrying a gas gun that put criminals to sleep. This crime-noir period piece was often dark and violent, but featured a tender and well-developed relationship between the bookish hero Dodds and his resourceful life-long lover and partner, Dian Belmont.

In addition to the 70 issues and a single Annual, I included Sandman Midnight Theatre, an original graphic novel that tied the Mystery Theatre version of Sandman into Neil Gaiman's mythological dream king Sandman.

I also made sure to fit in the two short Sandman Mystery Theatre stories from Vertigo: Winter's Edge, a holiday-themed anthology. Here is the wraparound cover from Winter's Edge #2 by Mike Allred, one of my favorite artists:

I also collected Len Wein's complete '80s Blue Beetle series into one volume (24 issues preceded by Beetle's origin story in Secret Origins #2), and Howard Chaykin's gritty, sexy Vertigo adventure series American Century into one volume (all 27 issues). Note my snazzy custom Tables of Contents for Sandman Mystery Theatre volumes as well.

Anyway, here is my full library of custom-bound hardcovers, including my four Justice League volumes:

Custom-Bound Hardcover Library

JUSTICE LEAGUE: The Giffen / DeMatteis EraVolume 1: JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL (signed by Giffen, Maguire, Templeton, and McKone)
Justice League #1-4 (signed by Maguire)
Justice League Annual #1
Justice League #5-6 (signed by Maguire)
Justice League International #7-13 (7-12 signed by Maguire)
Suicide Squad #13
Justice League International #14
Justice League International Annual #2
Justice League International #15-25 (16-19, 20-21, 24-25 signed by Templeton, 22-24 signed by Maguire; 25 signed by McKone)

JUSTICE LEAGUE: The Giffen / DeMatteis EraVolume 2: JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA (signed by Giffen, Hughes, Templeton, McKone, Marzan, and Beatty)
Justice League America #26-30 (#26-29 signed by Templeton, 28 signed by McKone)
Justice League America #33-36 (33-35 signed by Hughes, 35 signed by Marzan)
Justice League International Special #1
Justice League America #37-42 (37-40 signed by Hughes, 41-42 signed by McKone, 40 and 42 signed by Marzan)
Justice League America Annual #4 (signed by McKone)
Justice League America #43-52 (43-45, 51 signed by Hughes; 46-50 signed by Beatty, 43-45 signed by Marzan)

JUSTICE LEAGUE: The Giffen / DeMatteis EraVolume 3: JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE (signed by Giffen)
Justice League Europe #1-5 (signed by Sears)
Justice League International Annual #3 (signed by McKone)
Justice League Europe #6 (signed by Sears)
Justice League America #31 (signed by Hughes)
Justice League Europe #7 (signed by Sears)
Justice League America #32 (signed by Hughes)
Justice League Europe #8-19 (8-12, 15-19 signed by Sears, 14 signed by Marzan)
Justice League Europe Annual #1 (signed by Marzan)
Justice League Europe #20-28 (23-28 signed by Sears; 20-22 signed by Rogers)

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Binding Comic Books #1: Justice League International

I don't really buy new comics anymore. I may pick up a few trade paperbacks a year (only when they're heavily discounted), and I rely on inter-library loans to furnish me with others, but the days of waiting for new comic Wednesdays, scouring the spinner-racks, buying, reading, bagging, and boarding comics are over for me. I've sold or donated boxes and boxes of comics over the last few years, and just don't have the interest I used to.

That said, even though I've greatly downsized my collection, I still have a few complete runs that I wouldn't ever want to part with, sentimental favorites from years past. But I noticed that while I'll often reread trade paperbacks on my bookshelf, I almost never delved into my remaining longboxes to reread bagged and boarded single issues, even the really terrific ones. Sure, sometimes they get reprinted in trade paperbacks, but who wants to repurchase things they already own (albeit in an inferior format)? Not I. And half the time the new TPBs are expensive (and only reprint four or six issues in a shot), or they skip issues or reprint things out of order, and they always seem to trickle out slowly. At least I know I have all the good stuff already.

That's when I had an epiphany: what if I had my all-time favorite comics bound into collected editions of my own? That would eliminate longbox clutter, allow me easy access to old classics, and even create one-of-a-kind new collectibles. Like so many great ideas, it had already been done... but that made it even easier for me to move forward with it. To start with, I envisioned binding the classic Justice League International run co-written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis into four hardcover volumes. The first volume would be Justice League International, followed by Justice League America (the same series with a title change), Justice League Europe (a spinoff book that ran concurrently, starting when International changed its name to America), and finally, Justice League: Breakdowns (a crossover that ran back and forth between the two titles, leading to the end of the Giffen/DeMatteis era on both). I had all the comics, including Annuals, Specials, tie-in issues from other series, random crossovers, and whatever else was needed to make these volumes truly complete. But who could help me make this happen?

Library Binding is based in Waco, Texas, and they specialize in the kind of comic binding projects I had in mind: http://librarybinding.com/comic-books.php . Their prices are amazing: $15 (plus shipping) for binding a stack of comic books into a simple, sturdy, no-frills hardcover book with custom text stamped into the spine. We pick the cover and text colors, which are included in the base price, and they trim the edges nice and smooth and even remove the staples in the process. Special features like fancy fonts, front cover stamping, and custom logo dies cost extra. I corresponded with experienced bookbinder James Jasek several times via e-mail with all of my questions and concerns, and the man had the patience of a saint. Eventually, I was ready for what most comic book collectors would consider a nightmarish scenario. I started tearing pages out of these beloved old comics.

Needless to say, I wanted my custom-bound books to be as nice as possible, so I figured I would prep my comics for binding by removing all the double-sided ad pages and back covers. Nobody likes ads breaking up a story, which is one more reason trade paperbacks are so much nicer than single-issue comics. Plus, this would decrease the size of the volumes I had planned, allowing me to fit more issues into each bound book. I went through over 100 comics and very carefully tore out every offending page, which constituted a real history lesson in the comic books, video games, and junk food of the late '80s and early '90s.

(This isn't a great picture for showing you the size of the stack of ads I tore out, but it's the only picture I took. Trust me, there were a LOT.)

I only wished some really fastidious fanboys could have seen me in action, as they surely would have panicked and gotten offended. It seemed counterintuitive, ripping out pages -- essentially "destroying" the priceless collectibles we've gotten conditioned to think of comics as. But I've moved past that. The best comics are reading material first and foremost, deserving to be accessible for revisiting at any point, like good friends. Instead of destroying these old issues, I saw myself creating something new. Something better. Something that could be displayed proudly on a bookshelf instead of taped up in mylar and surrounded by cardboard, shielded from the light of day.

In the end, I had my four volumes planned out, and divided the comics into four stacks to get them ready for Library Binding.

I filled out their binding slips with everything I wanted and sent them off. Was I nervous? You better believe it! But I had seen samples of the beautiful work Library Binding did, and I knew my beloved Justice League International comics were in good hands.

About a month later, I received a package at work. The books were ready! How did they come out? See for yourselves!

I added custom Tables of Contents to each volume:

And the books lay open flat, unlike most "official" published trade paperbacks:

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Recipe cards from the 1970s

Monday, February 05, 2007

Make mine MEATCAKE!

This is how you create that mammoth of meals disguised as a dessert, the hearty and delicious Meatcake. Like robots that transform into cars, the Meatcake is more than meets the eye!

Ingredients5 pounds of ground beef (don't worry about getting the expensive lean stuff for this recipe!)2 cups of dry bread crumbs (I like the Vigo brand bread crumbs with romano cheese for a more robust flavor, but you can use Progresso or the Jason brand kosher bread crumbs if your friends keep kosher as some of mine do.)4 eggs1 small can of plain tomato sauceMinced garlicFinely-chopped sweet Vidalia onionKetchupBarbecue sauceWorcestershire sauceTabasco Chipotle sauceLiquid smokeGulden's spicy brown mustardBrown sugarOld Bay seasoningBasilOreganoAdoboCuminPaprika (regular or smoked; I have both so I used both!)Chili powderGarlic powderBlack pepperKosher saltRed pepper flakesWhatever else you have on hand that you like!

Keep separate:1 box instant mashed potatoes (usually potato flakes) -- follow the instructions on the box, which usually call for salt, water, butter or margarine, and a bit of milk.

Recipe1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (This is the easy part.)

2. Combine the meat, bread crumbs, eggs, and and a good bit of every spice, seasoning, and condiment you have in the house in a large mixing bowl, as you would a meatloaf. You're going to need to use your hands, so make sure the meat isn't ice-cold.

3. When mixed evenly, divide the meat into three round disposable aluminum cake pans, then top each one with a blend of ketchup, barbecue sauce, and brown sugar so it will form a nice, sweet, crusty red glaze on top when they go in the oven.

*(No pictures for this part because my hands were covered with meat and ketchup and other greasy, sticky, slimy stuff.)*

4. Bake them for an hour at 350 degrees and carefully drain the orange-red liquid fat, preferably into an empty glass jar rather than down your sink. Put the meatcake discs in the fridge overnight, covered with plastic wrap, ideally still in their aluminum cake pans.

5. When they're chilled and hopefully firmed up, use a long, sharp knife to shave off the tops and sides of the three meatloaf discs to get them to be even, flat, and round (or at least moreso than they were before. Perfection is unnecessary.)

6. Put them back in the oven just long enough to heat them back up.

7. Meanwhile, whip a quick sweet tomatoey sauce by simmering a can of plain tomato sauce with some worcestershire and brown sugar, stirring constantly.

8. Cook up some instant mashed potatoes -- believe it or not, I used the equivalent of 8 cups, although I didn't follow the box instructions by adding milk. Mashed potato purists, feel free to sneer, but you really need the smooth, uniform consistency you get from the instant potato flakes.

9. Scoop the instant mashed potatoes into a plastic Ziploc baggie and snip a tiny hole in one corner, so you can use it like a pastry bag.

10. Stack the meat discs on a large plate: a foundation meat layer with a ring of potato icing from the bag to act as a gasket, and tomato sauce inside the ring. Follow with a second meat layer, another potato ring, and more sauce inside it, and top with the third meat layer.

11. Stick in some short bamboo skewers to keep them from sliding or falling apart. 6" skewers worked well for me, and I still had to snap off the protruding tops. Trust me on this one, you'll be glad you had these!

12. "Ice" the triple-decker meatcake just as you'd spread and smooth icing over a real dessert cake. If you have extra mashed potatoes, you can use your "pastry bag" to squeeze out little artsy flourishes around the top and sides, like you'd see on a cake. (This is where you may add food coloring for some real style points, but you don't want to gross out your guests to the point where they won't try it.)

13. Fill another Ziploc baggie with the tomato sauce and snip a tinier hole in the corner. Use this to squeeze a ring of sauce carefully around the top circumference of the meatcake, and another ring around the bottom, along the plate (to mimic a "strawberry sauce" effect).

14. Cut out slices (taking great care not to eat the bamboo skewers) and serve it like a real cake: layers of rich brown meatloaf with red tomatoey goodness between them, all iced with tasty smooth mashed potatoes and a sweet red sauce. It's an entire hearty meal... in cake form! MEATCAKE!